Review of The Fragile Army Album by Polyphonic Spree

Experimental geniuses, The Polyphonic Spree, release their third album, 'The Fragile Army', the 'holy grail' of electronica-rock music. Their music has an indescribable, unimaginable effect on the listener. It's one hell of an album; exciting and blissful from cover to cover. Often connected with the radiance of 'I'm From Barcelona', similarly, this band clearly value originality and innovation. They haven't quite made as much progress in the U.K. as in the U.S. but hopefully 'The Fragile Army' will change all that.

The album kicks off with 'Running Away', what could be described as the perfect pop-rock song. With a sound you would relate to the Manic Street Preachers, a grand sweeping chorus, driven guitars and magical vocals; it's one of the many highlights of this fantastic album.

It's followed up by 'Get Up And Go'; doesn't necessarily blow you away as much as its preceding track. A stroke of Bowie and The Killers is sampled but all in all a pretty average electro-rock song.

Its commonness is quickly forgotten by the time title-track 'The Fragile Army' comes along; a miraculous rock-anthem brushing on the sound of Slade; a rarity, truly magnificent. Then comes 'Younger Yesterday' a bright, bubbly and clash-happy rendition showing a completely different side to The Polyphonic Spree, but one of consistent brilliance. 'We crawl', music-wise, reminds you of a soundtrack to a Jane Austen film; flutes, vintage piano and violin, 'Mental Cabaret' is an up-tempo synth-electro song; bloody brilliant and 'Guaranteed Nightlife' is a heavy impact offbeat, distorted eerie chant; incredible.

This band, by now, should have been embraced and welcomed tenfold though sadly that is yet to happen. Hopefully, 'The Fragile Army' should do just the job in winning over the Great British music-loving public. This album is recommended to all rock music-lovers, everywhere, no matter how narrow-minded their musical tastes may be.